


when we see what we've become

by reachedthebitterend



Series: happier [1]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Alex Doesn't Leave Roswell, Fluff and Slight Angst, M/M, alien reveal, well he does but only like an hour or so away michael refused to live any farther
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 03:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17841254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachedthebitterend/pseuds/reachedthebitterend
Summary: ten years is too long to keep a part of yourself a secret from the person that you love, or michael got tired of the max evans double standard a long time before liz ortecho drove back into their lives or the one where alex stayed





	when we see what we've become

**Author's Note:**

> i love aus and i couldn't get this out of my head, so hope y'all like it!!

“i’m telling alex,” michael says after driving in silence for a few minutes taking isobel home after the reunion.

“michael, no,” she says immediately, and michael can see her out of the corner of his eye, turning to face him in the passenger seat, her hands clenched to fists on her lap.

michael clenches his hands around the steering wheel, but then sighs and just leans back in the seat, pressing on the accelerator a little bit harder.

“we made a promise,” isobel starts, already playing mediator in an argument he and max haven’t had yet (or are still having as the case is).

“a promise,” michael grits out. “that max seems to be incapable of keeping whenever liz ortecho is involved.”

he looks over when isobel doesn’t say anything to see that she’s biting her lip and looking away.

“what?” he asks knowing she’s not going to say it unless he asks.

“it’s just,” she starts then stops then starts again. “what if he’s really in love with her? it’s been ten years and he’s acting exactly the same.”

michael scoffs and gives her an incredulous look before looking back out the windshield. “you’re insane if you’re thinking of letting max get away with this because he’s been in love with liz for ten years.”

“what if i made a mistake?” isobel says sounding distraught. “if he’s really in love with her, and he has been this whole time then that means that it was love back then.”

michael stops the car partly because they’re right in front of isobel’s house and partly because he needs to be looking at isobel right now.

“so what you’re telling me is that it’s okay for max to save liz and tell her about the secret we promised to tell no one, but it’s not okay for me to tell alex the same secret when we’ve been living together for ten years?”

isobel looks at him and he knows that she thinks that he’s right, but she won’t go against max.

michael sighs in frustration and tugs his fingers through his hair.

“listen,” isobel says reaching to touch his arm. “remember when you and alex had that giant fight right after high school and you begged max for days to let him let you tell alex, but you didn’t, and you guys are fine.”

michael laughs humorlessly. “we’re fine because he just ignores whatever has to do with this big part of me that i can’t share with him even though he’s basically my husband.”

“you think i don't know how you feel?” isobel snaps. “you think i like keeping this huge part of myself away from  _ my _ husband?”

michael looks away from her.

“noah wants to have a baby,” she says in a hushed voice so low that michael is sure she didn’t mean to say it. 

when his gaze snaps back to her, she’s looking at him with wide scared eyes.

“i keep telling him that i’m not ready,” she says and laughs a little wetly. “to give me some time, but that’s not the truth. the truth is that i’m scared.”

michael inhales deeply and reaches out to wrap his hand around isobel’s arm and tug her in for a hug.

she sags into him, wrapping her arms around his chest and burying her face in his shoulder.

“i want to tell him so bad, sometimes i open my mouth to say the words, but then i think about max and you,” she whispers.

michael understands where she’s coming from because that’s exactly how it is for him, but he’s done with max and all of his rules that only seem to apply to them and never to him.

he waits until she pulls back and is looking at him in the eyes to speak.

“i’m telling alex,” he puts his hand up when she opens her mouth to argue. “liz knows the truth izzy. it’s not a matter of when he’s going to tell her, he already told her. i’m going to tell alex, tonight. i’d suggest you think about doing the same.”

she looks at him for a long time without saying anything, before she’s leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“you do what you think is best, and i’ll do the same.”

michael sighs but doesn’t respond.

he starts the truck again while isobel checks her reflection in the rearview mirror.

she smiles at him and then leaves the car.

michael waits until she gets inside of the house before he drives off.

 

*

 

every once in a while michael is glad for the long drive to their apartment outside of the roswell city limits. tonight is one of those nights.

he thinks about what he’s going to tell alex the whole drive home, and by the time he parks the truck in the guest parking spot, he still doesn’t know what he’s going to tell him.

he’s had more than enough time to think this through, but in his internal monologue he never gets farther than, ‘i’m an alien’ before imaginary!alex is laughing his head off.

michael walks to the apartment automatically finding himself at the front door before he has time to think about it.

he reaches out and unlocks the door with a flick of his wrist before wrapping his fingers around the doorknob and opening the door.

the hallway is semi dark and silent, the only light source coming faintly from the kitchen. 

michael closes the door behind himself with another flick of his wrist and heads for the kitchen since that's obviously where alex is.

michael slows as he nears the entrance to the kitchen when he hears the low humming sound of alex humming along to the guitar riff of whatever song he currently has stuck in his head.

michael leans against the entrance to the kitchen and stares.

alex is standing with his back to him facing the space of counter between the stove and the sink.

the air smells strongly of coffee and michael can hear the light clinking sound of the metal spoon hitting the mug.

michael feels that warm feeling spreading through his stomach that he feels every time that he remembers just how well alex knows him.

alex turns around, spots him and jumps a little, scared, almost spilling the coffee in the two mugs in his hands.

he gives michael a narrowed look but just lifts the mugs up a little, “noah called.”

michael figured that that had been the case. 

noah had probably noticed that they had spoken before isobel had gone inside. he’d also probably realized that isobel wouldn’t be the only one who’d need someone after their conversation.

michael pushes off where he’d been leaning and walks over to their small dining table.

he sits down as alex sets the mugs down on top of the table and sits down on the chair closest to him instead of across from him.

michael watches as alex very obviously doesn’t ask what’s wrong, but lifts his mug to his mouth, blowing against the faint steam a little bit before he sips some.

michael grabs his own mug, the heat of the porcelain making the warm feeling in his belly intensify.

this is alex, michael tells himself lifting the mug to his mouth. no matter what, after everything they’ve been through to get to this point, telling alex the truth about the secret that almost tore them apart isn’t going to be what’s going to make alex leave him.

michael has slowly come to the realization over the last couple of years that there really isn’t anything that could make alex leave him, which is something that michael has difficulty admitting to himself let alone anyone else.

michael sets his mug down without taking a sip.

“i have to tell you something,” michael starts and then stops not knowing how to continue.

alex sets his own mug down and looks at michael with clear, open eyes.

“does it have anything to do with the slight power outage that happened the other night in the street where the crashdown is located?”

michael’s mouth falls open a little and he just stares at alex who has that look on his face.

the one that says he knows that michael is about to lie to him, but he’s accepted it about this particular topic.

michael moves before he’s really aware of it, pushing the chair back and falling to his knees right beside alex’s chair.

alex turns in his seat to face him and he looks a little surprised.

good. it’s hard to surprise alex after ten years, but he loves that face he makes when michael does something that catches him off guard in a good way. 

alex reaches for him and michael catches his hands pressing them to his heart as he leans up and tilts his chin up.

alex takes the invitation for what it is and presses a kiss to michael’s mouth. michael presses up into the kiss parting their mouths together and kissing alex back with all the warmth that he feels sweeping through him.

he pulls back and presses alex’s hands harder against his chest.

alex rests his forehead on michael’s and just exhales.

michael watches him from this close, eyes closed, dark lashes just brushing the tops of his cheeks, old eyeliner smudged into the corners, the red flush smeared on his cheeks, the roundness of his nose, the part of his mouth, the dip on his top lip and the curve of his bottom lip, all together it leaves michael feeling a little helpless.

he doesn’t think he’s ever going to love someone the way that he loves alex.

“i love you,” michael breathes, just barely a whisper.

he sees the way the words change alex’s entire face.

his eyes open and he pulls away a little to look at michael’s face properly.

when he finds what he’s looking for, his eyes go soft and sparkly, and his lips curve into a sweet smile that michael knows belongs to him and him alone.

michael doesn’t say it often, but it’s worth it every time he does for that smile.

“i love you back,” he says leaning in close again and pressing another kiss on michael’s mouth.

michael pulls away when alex tries to deepen the kiss making alex pout at him.

michael looks at him and smiles. he can't imagine his life without this man by his side. and that's the real reason he hasn't told alex the truth, he doesn't want to lose him.

“hey,” alex says softly tugging against the hold michael has on his hands. “where’d you go?”

michael lets his own hands fall to his sides as alex slides his own up the sides of michael’s face and into his hair.

he exhales softly and presses his forehead to michael’s again.

“you don’t have to tell me anything, you know?”

and michael knows that, and that’s why he wants to tell him.

michael inhales deeply and opens his mouth.

 

*

 

alex blinks several times and tries to figure out if he’s going crazy, because he thinks he just heard his crazy-codependent-on-his-siblings-cowboy-mechanic-mad-genius boyfriend say that he’s an alien.

michael is still kneeling at his feet, and his hands are wrapped around each other on his lap and he’s still looking at alex with bright clear honest eyes.

and that’s what makes alex stop and just think before he says anything or do anything like laugh his head off at this particularly unfunny joke.

he settles back in his seat and michael sighs a little despondent and a whole lot defeated.

“let me think before you jump to your own conclusions,” alex says as gently as he can. the humor in his voice, makes michael glare at him.

but he just gets up from the floor and takes his seat again wrapping his hands around his coffee mug.

alex stares at him. at the way his hair looks like he’d spent the entire drive from isobel’s running his hands through it. at the way his jaw is clenched, and his fingers are tapping against the edge of the mug of coffee that he’s not drinking. at the way he’s breathing a little bit too fast. at the way that he darts looks to alex from the corner of his eye because he has to make sure that alex face doesn’t make a face that shows an emotion that he won’t verbalize.

he doesn’t look like an alien, alex muses. but he supposes that if the goal was survival, an alien could conceivably disguise themselves to look like whoever lived on the planet they landed at. 

if he’s being completely honest with himself (and suspending his disbelief), michael being an alien would explain a lot about his behavior and actions. 

what alex doesn’t understand is why michael didn’t admit this back when alex was ready to just walk away because michael was still keeping things from him when alex gave up everything in his entire life to be with him.

the answer comes to him almost immediately.

if michael is an alien, that means so are max and isobel.

alex exhales just a little bit shakily, and michael’s eyes snap to his immediately.

alex raises an eyebrow, “so you’re not immune to the effects of acetone inside of the human body, you’re just an alien?”

michael swallows hard and nods his head once, sharply.

“and the weird symbols you scratch out your equations in aren’t just a form of shorthand, it’s an alien language?”

michael freezes and just stares at him.

“and your fascination with foster’s ranch is actually because that’s where an alien spaceship crashed and not because that’s where you took my vir-?”

michael lunges across the table and tugs alex into a hard kiss shutting him up. 

alex feels the table moving and can hear the coffee spilling across ig, but he doesn’t really care.

he pushes his fingers into michael’s hair and kisses him back.

michael kisses him hard and desperate, fingers wrapped in his hair in a punishing grip, teeth biting, tongue pushing, completely overwhelming. he’s only ever kissed alex like this when he thinks that he’s going to lose him but doesn’t.

michael pulls back, their mouths parting with a wet sound. he leans their foreheads together heavily and just breathes, his eyes closed looking relieved.

alex sighs and runs his hands through michael's hair stopping to cup the back of his neck.

“when are you going to get this through your head?” alex whispers and michael's eyes open slowly, looking at him. “there's nothing you can say that'll make me leave.”

michael just watches him intently before his lips curve into a smirk.

he opens his mouth to speak and alex slides one of his hands over his mouth. “don't ruin the mood, guerin.”

michael licks against alex's palm.

alex makes a face at him and pulls away, sitting back down. michael lets him go and makes a face at the mess the coffee made all over the table.

he goes to get something to clean it up while alex drags his mug over and takes a sip from it despite the fact that it’s dripping on his fingers.

michael comes back with the kitchen towel and the wet sponge. alex reaches over and grabs his mug and watches michael as he cleans up the mess.

this is the first time in three days that they’re both home and awake at the same time.

alex sets michael’s mug down on the clean table and turns in his chair a little to watch michael as he washes and rinses the sponge.

he takes a sip of his coffee and focuses his gaze on the way that michael’s shirt stretches across his shoulders.

“damn,” he hears michael say lowly, before he’s turning the faucet off and tugging his shirt over his shoulder.

alex’s eyes drop all the way down to the waistband of his jeans, and he presses the mug to his chin as he licks along his bottom lip. his eyes go lower and he appreciates the way that michael’s jeans are stretched across his ass and how tight they are around his thighs.

michael turns around, and alex’s gaze follows the same line but up the front.

when his eyes find michael’s face, his lips are curved into an easy smirk, and his eyes are dark with desire.

alex really wants to know more about the alien stuff, and get confirmation that max and isobel are aliens, but it’s almost two in the morning, and alex knows where his priorities lie.

he finishes the rest of his coffee, and sets the mug down on the table. 

michael takes several steps closer and alex holds out his hand to him.

michael takes a hold of his wrist and tugs him out of his chair, moving forward quickly to catch alex against his chest.

michael slides his arms high around alex’s waist, and alex slides his hands up michael’s arms, to his shoulders and into his hair.

he watches how michael’s eyes fall shut, and how he shudders, and how he moves into the touch.

alex leans in close, eyes intent on michael’s mouth and says, “take me to bed.”

michael kisses his answer to alex’s lip.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! <3   
> cross posted to my tumblr: [reachedthebitterend](https://reachedthebitterend.tumblr.com)


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